SCOTUS Hears Case About Biden Admin. and Social Media Firms

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Facts

  • The US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) heard arguments on Monday surrounding a case that claims the Biden admin. violated its bounds by coercing social media platforms to remove certain content. However, the justices seemed skeptical of the arguments against the administration.1
  • The case, Murphy v. Missouri, was brought by Missouri and Louisiana, who argue that the White House violated the 1st Amendment by pressuring platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to remove 'disinformation' regarding election integrity and COVID.2
  • The justices appeared skeptical of arguments claiming that the government acted unlawfully in its communications with social media firms. SCOTUS is likely to side with the admin. to strike down an injunction that prohibits top officials from coercing platforms to remove content.3
  • The GOP-led states and their plaintiffs argue that the government engaged in efforts to strong-arm platforms into content moderation called 'jawboning,' but the White House denied this, saying it was seeking to inform platforms of content that violated their own policies.4
  • The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals had narrowed an injunction by a Louisiana-based judge that barred officials from 'communication of any kind with social-media companies' and SCOTUS will render a definitive ruling on the gray area of government communication with such firms.3
  • Three conservative justices claim the government coordinated with companies to stifle conservative speech, while the court’s three liberals, along with three conservatives, appeared hesitant to interfere with the government's communication with online platforms.5

Sources: 1US News & World Report, 2Associated Press, 3NBC, 4Forbes and 5Washington Examiner.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by CNN. It seems like the Supreme Court, even with its conservative majority, is poised to uphold the government's right to communicate with social media platforms regarding misinformation. Issues like COVID and election denialism proved to be extremely dangerous in recent years, and social media platforms made a priority of cracking down on such disinformation. The government has a clear national security interest in preventing lies from spreading online as conspiracy theories have provoked insurrections and medical disasters.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by Blaze Media. There's no doubt the Biden administration used its power to coerce social media platforms into censoring speech it did not like, which is a clear violation of the 1st Amendment. The Democratic Party and big tech have been tied at the hip for years, and it's clear to see that the world's largest companies do the bidding of their friends in Washington. Conservatives have been silenced for simply questioning the efficacy of the COVID shot or asking how Biden received 81M votes, and the White House is responsible for this violation of free speech. SCOTUS must prevent the government from colluding with big tech.

Predictions